1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to holders for dental handpieces such as air-turbine handpieces or micro-motor handpieces when not in use and more particularly to handpiece holders intended for the convenient removal and replacement of the handpiece during the course of dental treatment by a dental surgeon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 46877 of 1976 describes a type of dental handpiece holder suspended from the ceiling by means of a metal fitting and positioned so as to be conveniently accessable to a seated dental surgeon, who was merely by raising his forearm, easily able to grip the handpiece held by the holder.
However, most prior art dental handpiece holders have a trough-like structure having a simple semi-circular cross section with which was associated certain shortcomings. In particular, there is a tendancy for a handpiece held by such a holder to inch forward as a result of external vibration and/or of contact between the flexible hose connected to the handpiece and the knee of the dentist. In either event, the handpiece is free to slide easily within the trough-like holder and easily slips out, whereupon it must be replaced back in the holder with resultant inconvenience. With such prior art handpiece holders, this happens quite frequently.
In order to overcome this shortcoming, it has been proposed to provide the inner surface of the holder with a plurality of projections made from rubber (or other elastic materials) so as to enlarge the area of contact with the handpiece and to increase the friction between the handpiece and the holder. However, the use of such rubber-like projections also had attendant disadvantages such as trapping dirt and debris between the projections which could not be conveniently cleaned out.